


Facepalm

by wonderstruck4



Category: The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani
Genre: Angst, Apologies, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 16:18:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12112512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderstruck4/pseuds/wonderstruck4
Summary: I saw the comics supposedly drawn by Hort in the ENH, and wondered how Sophie ever let them in. Here's my explanation. Enjoy!





	Facepalm

Hort was ecstatic.  
Just now, he had been called to Dean Sophie's office in the Tower for a private meeting, and he was never so excited or nervous in his life. He ran across Sophie's Way, slammed open the door, and climbed up ten flights of stairs to get to the office where she waited, tapping her watch and shaking her head.  
When she heard the professor bolt down the hallway, Sophie knew that he had the wrong idea about the meeting. She had hoped that he would understand that after four years...guess not. She smiled as she remembered his dazed expression of euphoric disbelief when they danced at the No Ball, though he tried hard to keep his cool. Nowadays, she found herself smiling whenever she thought of him and his quirks-which was often. Geez, what was happening?  
Sophie was interrupted from her strange realization when Hort burst through the door, out of breath. "Hi, Sophie! Sorry I'm...late...just have to...catch my breath...for a minute." He leaned against the wall for a while before   
going to sit down across from his Dean. She folded her hands and prepared for the talk. "Professor, do you know why I called you here today?"  
"Um..."  
"Of course you don't. This has to do with the Ever-Never Handbook."  
"You mean the part with the Roundtable where Dot pointed out what happened at the No Ball and we had that moment afterwards and it was so nice and-"  
"Nope. This is about the comics that you drew to explain the school's history."  
"Oh...right. Yeah, about those..."  
"When you submitted these comics, I looked them over. My initial thoughts were mostly positive-they were unconventional and charming." Hort beamed, and Sophie almost regretted what she would say next.   
"I skimmed the first few pages and sent them to print with no worries. I did hear some snickering from the print room, but I thought that it was simply in admiration of my wonderful script for the musical. Turns out I was wrong."  
She pulled out a handbook, flipped through, and opened to a page so he could see the comic he had drawn- 'Hort's Guide to Love'.  
Sophie let down a death glare. "Really?"  
He blew out his cheeks and let out a breath, preparing himself.  
"Are you kidding me? 'Bort' and 'Lophie'? 'Kedros'? 'Hagatha'? I mean, come on! Besides the absolute absurdity of the names, much of this is quite inaccurate. I was never 'definitely attracted' to you, nor were there 'other girls to choose from'."  
Hort smiled nervously. "Um... ever heard of artistic license?"  
Sophie said nothing, her glare now stabbing and boring its way through his dark eyes and into his soul. He knew he had to undo his mistake. "Uh...sorry...that's just how I saw it..."  
"This is an informational handbook given to every single student that comes through these doors. You can't just go blabbing all your personal issues all over the place. Even the last sentence worries me. 'As long as it takes'? That makes it seem as if we'll end up together somehow, which makes my stomach flip and my head ache with disgust. The only good thing is that you did make me look gorgeous in these comics. That's IT."  
Hort shrugged. "Like I said, this is merely what I see." He smiled at her, hoping to get this awkwardness to stop as soon as possible.  
"Do you really wanna try that right now?"  
There was some awkward silence before Hort realized something.   
"Wait...you said that the thought of us being together made your stomach flip and your head ache. That's what happens to me whenever I look at you...and you know how I feel."  
More silence. Sophie's posture relaxed just a smidge, and Hort took this as a sign of hope. He crushed the voice of reason in his head and decided to take it farther.  
"You do know how I feel, right?"  
Sophie awoke from being lost in her thoughts, folding her hands once more. She glared at him again, this time a tiny bit shakier.  
Hort took that as an invitation to speak.  
"I love you, Sophie. I'm in love with you and I'm not afraid to say it. And I'm sorry that I've been such a jerk about it." He let out another breath, surprised at himself. "I mean, I know Evil isn't supposed to love, and Evil isn't supposed to apologize, but I thought I'd tell you the truth."  
A moment went by.  
"Even though Evil isn't supposed to tell the truth either."  
She cracked a smile.  
"Do you remember what I whispered at the No Ball?"  
His voice went soft and he looked straight into her emerald eyes.  
"How could I forget?"  
"I told you that just because I'm not looking for true love doesn't mean I can't find it." He smiled, and just for a moment, looked like the prince she had always dreamed of. Then she looked back down at the comic...was he expecting her to throw her life away? Submit to him after proving she was okay on her own? Leave all her core values behind? "I said that, and I was starting to think that maybe we should remember that moment, we should give this a chance, just as I whispered that night. Then I saw this, and...it just became wrong."  
Hort lowered his head. When he looked back up, he was smiling the saddest smile Sophie had ever seen.  
"I would never want to hurt you. Those were my thoughts and I probably shouldn't have shared them. I'm sorry."  
"Are you apologizing for your thoughts?"  
"Do you want me to?"  
This time, there was enough awkward silence to fill a whole lifetime.  
Sophie spoke. "This is a mess. I'm sorry, too."  
After some more silence, Hort stood up and got ready to leave. He stopped before going out of the door, though, and turned to face her one more time.  
"I want you to be who you want to be, and I'm sorry if my comic gave you any idea that I didn't. I love you, Sophie, and I want you to know that I always will. But if you don't love me, I will accept that."  
A pause.  
"I promise."  
He walked at a normal pace out the door.  
Sophie looked down at the comic again, her eyes landing on the end panel, which still worried her. She then turned to the end of the Roundtable, and read that over. He seemed so out of character in the comics...what did he really feel? Sophie was rather confused by the fact that she even cared. She had never felt like this about Tedros, or even Rafal. Was real love torturing like this? Or was he just the worst?  
Sophie knew she needed to get away from her thoughts for a while, so she left her office for her walk-in closet. Organizing her outfits always felt great. The Dean was walking through her hallway when she heard a noise that sounded somewhat like...crying.  
She turned the corner, trying to find the source, and saw him.  
Hort had slid down the wall, curled up into a ball, and begun to sob uncontrollably. At the sight, Sophie broke down too. They sat there for a while, holding each other and crying, the simple meeting haven spiraled completely out of control.  
About ten minutes later, it had grown eerily quiet in the halls of Mischief Tower. Eventually, they became aware of their position and awkwardly moved away from each other. The Dean spoke first.  
"Well."  
"Sorry."  
"Um."  
"So."  
They looked at each other  
and burst out laughing.  
Sophie wiped the tears from her eyes. "Can we just put this behind us? Please?"  
Hort let his posture relax. "I would love to. Again, I'm so sorry about the comics."  
"Oh, I know." She put her hand on his and looked him kindly in the eye. "I know."  
For both of them, it felt like a weight had been lifted. They sat there before the professor spoke again.  
"The No Ball is still my favorite memory."  
"That feels like forever ago."  
"About that last sentence, I just wanted to convey that I would love you no matter what happened."  
"That's not what it said."  
"It didn't sound Evil enough."  
She smiled at him, shook her head again. "Why did you do this? I understand drawing to get your feelings out, but why did you share it? Was there any point? Were you just trying to get us talking?"  
"Honestly, I thought it would be interesting to read, and maybe let other people feeling that way to know that it's okay, that they're not alone."  
"That sounds rather Good to me."  
"Hey, I teach there too."  
There was a little more silence before Sophie's alarm to go to work went off. It was one of her favorite songs back home in Gavaldon. Hort stood and offered her a hand. She smiled and took it.  
They began to dance.


End file.
